


One After Another: Oneshots in an Unforgiving World

by ghastly7



Series: One After Another: The Series [2]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Alternate Universe: Canon Divergence, F/F, Or Is It?, Read the original fic first please, The world being unfair to Eight, continued suffering, no seriously you're not gonna find smut here look somewhere else, non-sexual nudity, or you'll miss out on all the suffering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:55:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21584911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghastly7/pseuds/ghastly7
Summary: A set of one-shots following different characters in the One After Another universe.Recovery, remorse, and regrets will all take place. The world is just as bad as before, and now the characters need to learn how to deal with that.Please, I'm begging you, read One After Another before reading this. I'm incredibly proud of it, and it leadsdirectlyinto the events contained in this story.Enjoy the fluff, the angst, and the suffering, friends.
Relationships: Agent 3/Agent 8 (Splatoon), Agent 4/Marie (Splatoon), Cap'n Cuttlefish & Everyone, Marina/Pearl (Splatoon)
Series: One After Another: The Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1552660
Comments: 235
Kudos: 141





	1. Clean

Three wiped the sweat off her brow. Rearranging her apartment to make room for Eight had been pretty grueling (mainly because they both were still recovering from injuries), but they managed to pull it off.

"So, waddya think? Look good?" Three asked, really hoping Eight would say yes so that they could take a break.

"I think so," Eight said. "What about you?"

" _ I _ still can't see very well, so I couldn't tell ya'" Three said, pointing to her medical eyepatch. "This whole 'one eye' situation is going to take some getting used to."

"I'm sorry," Eight said.

"What are you sorry for? You've gotta stop saying that to every minor inconvenience that comes my way," Three said, rubbing a hand up and down Eight's arm.

"Oh, I'm sorr-" Eight cut herself off. "I-I mean, yes."

"Pffft," Three cracked up. She shook her head fondly. "I heard that. You were totally about to say it again."

Eight blushed and looked at the floor. "You aren't wrong."

Three stretched her arms out. "Hey, I'm gonna head to the shower."

"That sounds great. Let's go," Eight said.

"Woah woah woah, hold up," Three said. "It's a little early in our relationship for us to be showering together, don't you think?"

Eight tilted her head in that adorable way she does. "What do you mean?"

Ah. Right. Eight hadn't had a very… healthy upbringing in the octarian military. Even if she didn't remember a lot of it, that stuff was bound to stick.

"Eight, you've never had your own shower, have you?" Three said.

"Yes… individual showers were for people more impor- um, higher ranking than me," Eight said. "I… I've never showered alone."

"Well now you can!" Three said. Instead of being happy about this like Three thought she would be, Eight avoided eye contact. "Hey, what's up?"

Eight hesitated. "... I don't… know if I'm  _ ready _ to shower alone…"

"Oh," Three said.

It made sense. Eight was out of her depth in this society in almost every way. Of course there would be a few things that she wasn't quite ready to tackle. But now Eight was looking guilty and upset… and Three was weak-willed when it came to her.

"Okay, I'll shower with you if it'll make you more comfortable," Three said, almost before she even registered what she was saying. She tried, and failed, to suppress the heat rising to her cheeks.

Eight's emotional one-eighty into a blindingly bright smile didn't help. "Thank you so much, Three!"

* * *

And that was how Three ended up staring intently at the corner of her shower while her octarian girlfriend soaked behind her.

"The ink is  _ warm _ ! It feels so nice! I've never been in a warm shower before!" Eight said.

"Uh-huh," Three said dumbly. It was hard for her to focus when she was so intent on not peeping at Eight's nudity.

"Three? Is something wrong?" Eight asked.

"No!" Three squeaked out. It… it was a very tough and cool-sounding squeak, though.

"... This is making you uncomfortable, isn't it?" Eight said, the sadness and guilt in her voice hurting Three's hearts.

Three forced herself to turn around and make (very direct) eye contact. "Eight, no… Well, yes, I guess I'm a little… unused to this, but I'm willing to do it for you."

"I don't want to make you feel weird," Eight said. She still sounded sad, and Three still couldn't stand it.

"I'll get used to it," Three said. She made a conscious effort to stop covering herself up with her arms so much.

Now that she wasn't intentionally averting her eyes, Three allowed herself to examine her showermate. Her eyes were quickly brought to a slit on Eight's torso, a scar that stood pale against the rest of the octoling's skin.

Well, she knew where that came from.

"Three," Eight said, snapping the inkling out of her thoughts, "You were looking at me. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine," Three said. Then she strummed her fingers on her own leg. "Does it still hurt? I-I mean, the stab wound."

"Oh, this?" Eight rubbed the scarred area. "No, it doesn't hurt anymore. It hasn't for a while."

"Good, I'm really glad to hear that," Three said, nodding.

Eight made eye contact with the other agent through the droplets of ink coming from the showerhead. "You know that I don't blame you for this, right? You had no control over yourself. There was nothing you could have done."

"I know, I know. I don't think you're the type of person to hold a grudge," Three said. "Doesn't mean I forgive  _ myself _ for it, though."

"You should. You'll feel better that way," Eight said.

"Well, that logic's hard to argue with. I'll work on it. I hope you'll understand if I avoid using any knives for a little bit, though," Three said.

"That's fine. I understand," Eight returned.

"Thanks," Three said. "While we're talking about your various injuries, how's your head doing?"

"It's fine. Maybe a little achy every once in a while."

"And your back?"

Eight looked at the floor. "I won't lie to you, that… that one still hurts a lot. I don't think that there was much that the doctors could do about it."

"... Can I see it?" Three asked, making an effort to make her voice as calm as possible.

Eight nodded, then turned around. Her lower back was still bandaged (Three would need to help her replace that after the shower), but the green grossness from the corrupted ink had seeped into her skin and could be seen poking out of the edges of the bandaging.

Three took a breath, and then leaned down and kissed right above the bandage. Eight jumped, clearly not expecting it.

The octoling turned her head as far back as she could to look at her girlfriend. "Three?"

"I, uh… I th-thought you might want me to… uh, kiss it better?" Three sputtered out. Man, she really needed to get better at this relationship stuff.

Eight smiled. "Oh, well thank you!"

"You're… welcome," Three said.

"I think it's my turn to ask a question, if that's alright with you," Eight said, turning her body around to face her showermate fully once again.

Three had to resist the natural urge to cover herself up with her arms again. "Sure… fire away."

"Is your eye alright?" Eight asked.

"I mean, I wouldn't really know. I don't have it anymore," Three joked. Yeah, she was deflecting, but she couldn't pass that one up.

"I'm sorry, I misspoke," Eight said.

"No, no, you were fine. I'm just being an asshole," Three said. "My eye feels… weird. It sometimes stings a bit, but it's nowhere near as bad as when I still had it. But… I can  _ feel _ that it's not there, you know? That's the bad part: I constantly know that there's supposed to be something there, but it's not."

"I think I understand," Eight said. "I do feel bad about how this all came from you getting taken over by Tartar, and you never would have had to go through that if I hadn't walked straight into that blender trap."

"Hey, none of this self-guilting stuff. You need to let it go," Three said. She grabbed the soap and began lathering herself with it. "It happened, and we have to acknowledge that. Trust me, there was a period where I was obsessing over that stuff, and it got really self-destructive. And… well, you basically know how that turned out."

"I'm sorry. I'll try to be better about the guilting," Eight said.

"It's fine," Three said. "Anyways, I actually only saved you back then because the Cap'n was with you. I didn't actually know who you were."

"Oh. Well that's…" Eight's expression darkened a bit. "I understand."

Three paused, then realized the error she had made. "Uh… guess I didn't really need to point that out, huh? I probably just made you feel really unspecial."

"... No, you were just telling the truth. And I'm really  _ not _ that special, anyways. That isn't a surprise to me."

"Eight," Three said, her voice getting just a tad forceful. What was she going to do with this girl? "Don't say things like that about yourself. I know that your prior life in the octarian army was degrading to the extreme, but you're not there anymore. You're with the NSS now. You're on the surface. And up here we are all allowed to give ourselves some respect." Three brushed one of Eight's tentacles behind her ear and placed her other hand on the octoling's shoulder. "It scares me when you sound like you hate yourself."

"I-I never meant to scare you."

"I know, Eight."

"I don't want you to feel like that."

"Then try and recognize how great of a person you are," Three said. "With all the shit that the inklings up here put you through, I couldn't really blame you if you started resenting our entire race, Octavio-style. And yet here you are, still choosing to live among us. That's something that either takes the patience of a saint or the kindness of… I don't know, the analogies fell apart on me there. The point is, you're pretty special for putting up with inklingkind and its bullshit."

"... It helps that I've met a truly wonderful inkling along the way," Eight said. She wrapped Three into a tight hug. Three, despite the internal panic she was having from the contact because they were still in the shower and  _ still not wearing any clothes _ , felt very comforted from the warmth Eight's body gave off. The shower itself felt cool in comparison.

"I love you, Eight," Three said, wrapping her arms around Eight in response.

"I love you, Three," Eight said. It was the obvious response, and yet Three's hearts fluttered a bit from hearing her girlfriend say the words.

"Let's finish getting clean and then cuddle for the rest of the day," Three said without letting go of the octoling.

"That sounds amazing," Eight responded. "... Assuming cuddling is what I think it is."

Three chuckled, and then closed her eyes to drink in the sensations of the shower and of her girlfriend's embrace. Yeah, she just said that they should wrap it up, but she thought she was entitled to be a little sluggish. After all, it didn't really matter  _ where _ she cuddled the love of her life, did it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the second chapter in the One After Another: the Series series! (Yes, the name is stupid.) I hope you'll enjoy the one-shots to come as much as you seemed to enjoy the original fic! Stay tuned, because more is coming your way!


	2. Welcome to the Game

"Okay, you see that big tower in the center of the square there?" Four said.

"Umm... yes. I see it now," Eight said.

"That's where we're headed. I'm going to teach you about turf war," Four said.

Eight nodded. Four was being really nice and showing her some inkling customs. That's why Eight was completely willing to join in on a turf war with her.

… Even if the idea wasn't very comforting to her.

"Come on! Let's get started!" Four said, jogging forward a bit and beckoning Eight to join her.

* * *

"Seriously? No room for turf war? Shoot…" Four said. She had really been hoping to introduce Eight to the most popular game here, but the electronic signs said they were all booked up. They could wait for it to clear up, but that wouldn't be very fun for Eight, now would it? She walked back to the octoling. "Hey, bad news. Turf war's full."

"Oh, that's a shame," Eight said.

"Buuuuut, there are other games that we can do! How does Rainmaker sound?"

"I… suppose I don't know?" Eight said.

Right, Four kept forgetting that Eight had absolutely zero knowledge of anything that went on up here.

"Well I think you'll like it," Four said.

"Alright," Eight said.

"Cool! I'll get us all signed….. up….." Four trailed off when she saw a few inklings who were staring at Eight behind her back. And then Four started noticing more. It seemed like everyone was either staring or stealing quick glances at the octoling. Because she was  _ the _ octoling. The one that more than half the population still believed was responsible for the destruction of a solid chunk of the city. Eight seemed conscious of and uncomfortable about the attention. Four really should have planned this better…

"Hey, ignore them," Four said in a hushed tone. "They can't do anything to you or else they'll get in real trouble. Let's just get into a game."

Eight nervously picked at a band-aid on the back of her hand. "O-okay."

Four grabbed her hand and led her to the desk, giving her best attempt at a glare towards as many of the gawking groups as possible. Then the short-tentacled inkling slapped her membership card on the desk and cleared her throat.

"O-oh, hello!" The front desk worker said. "W-what can I help you w-with?"

Four sighed. This desk worker was clearly terrified of Eight. Great. No no, positive attitude, Four! This was fine.

"Me and my friend here would like to play rainmaker, please!" Four said.

"U-um… I don't think that it... I mean she… I mean…"

"Hey, my membership says that I can bring up to three other people of legal age in a group. Well, Eight here's my plus one!" Four said, giving Eight a little side hug.

"I understand, miss, but she's….. you know..."

"I'm sorry, miss desk worker, I didn't want to make this troublesome. Four, you should go in without me. I'll wait out here," Eight said.

"But Eight, you're the whole reason we're here! I want you to be able to play some rainmaker or turf war or something!" Four said. She turned her head back to the receptionist. "Please let her play. She isn't going to cause trouble."

"... Okay… b-but keep an eye on her. I'll get in a lot of trouble if she kills someone."

Inhale. Exhale. Happy place, Four.

"Alright. You won't see any problems. Come on, Eight, let's go," Four said, grabbing the octoling's hand again and leading her to the tube-shaped waiting room as fast as possible. The doors slid closed behind them, and they were out of the public eye.

"Oh my GOSH! They've never been like this before!" Four shouted, frustrated.

"I-it's me. I'm the problem," Eight said, staring at the floor.

"You aren't, I promise! They are just being really bad people!" Four said. She took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry, Eight."

"It's alright. It isn't your fault," Eight responded.

"Well yeah, but… I kinda didn't even consider this as a possibility, so that's on me," Four said. "So yeah, sorry."

The door opened, and two male inklings wearing gas masks walked in.

"Oh, those are going to be our teammates," Four whispered to Eight, and then walked up to the front inkling and outstretched her hand. "Hi! Nice to meet you!"

Neither of the inklings acknowledged Four's attempt at a handshake and both just moved further into the room.

"Oookay…" Four said, lowering her hand and stepping back towards Eight.

A super jumping spot appeared on the floor as a sort of window opened in the side of the cylindrical room. The two teammates immediately took turns launching from it, leaving Four and Eight in the room alone.

"Okay, Eight," Four said, stepping onto the launch point. "We've just gotta super jump off of this and then we'll be at the arena. I'll brief you on the game once we're there. Got it?"

Eight nodded hesitantly.

"Great!" Four said, and then she super jumped away.

* * *

The game had barely started, and Four had already changed her mind about their two extra teammates on the lime green team. Four had splatted an enemy, and both of the boys gave her thumbs ups and said, "Nice!" And they were very friendly in general. Huh. Four guessed they had just been too focused on the game earlier. Now they seemed like cool people!

To be honest, Four was surprised by the sheer lack of people from the other team who were approaching their side of the map. Where were-

"GAME!" came loudly over the speakers of the arena with a shrill whistle behind it.

"What?" Four said out loud. The game had just barely started! The other two inklings on the team looked just as confused. Four's first instinct was to look behind them. Had someone slipped through with the rainmaker somehow? No, no one was there. So that meant…

Four dove into the ink and swam to the other side of the map past some befuddled-looking members of the enemy team. And then she saw who she was looking for: Eight, standing above a rainmaker embedded in the enemy's spawn. She was still defensively swiveling around with her shooter out.

"Holy crap, Eight!" Four said, running towards the octoling. Eight didn't react to her and just kept aiming her gun. Four closed the distance. "Hey, the game's over. You can relax." She put a hand on the octoling's shoulder.

Eight jumped at the contact and her head snapped wide-eyed towards Four's face. The octoling looked startled and stressed and terrified and… generally like she wasn't having fun. The shorter inkling's heart sank.

Nice job, Four. You really messed this one up.

"H-hey, it's okay! It's over! It's over," Four said, trying to be calming.

Thankfully it seemed to work. Eight let out a deep breath and then stowed her shooter. Her expression stayed unpleasant, however.

"Hey, let's get out of here," Four said. "There's a super jump point right over there, okay? That'll bring us back to the square."

Eight just nodded. The lack of words was concerning Four, to say the least.

The two quickly walked to the launcher, ignoring the waving that one of their teammates was doing in their direction. They jumped away, ending up at a universal exit point from the quick play tower. Four brought Eight to an outdoor table and sat her down before taking the seat across from her. They sat in silence for a moment.

"..... I'm sorry…" Eight said finally.

"You're sorr- are you kidding?  _ I _ should be saying  _ I'm _ sorry!" Four said.

"You planned today out for me and I think I ruined it," Eight said.

"No, no, Eight, these were terrible plans! I clearly wasn't even thinking about you when I made them!" Four said. "Hang on, I'm going to go get you some ice cream, stat."

The short-tentacled inkling sped away to a stand, quickly made her purchase, and then came back to a pensive-looking Eight.

"Here, eat some of this," Four said, handing Eight the soft-serve cone.

The octoling took it, and then ate it super slowly, as if she were worshipping the taste. She acted like every single lick was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted.

"I, uh… I didn't really think about how turf war is more than just a game for you. It was kind of a job for you, I guess. A job… that your life depended on," Four said. She felt really bad that she hadn't realized this earlier.

"Well... I think you're right..." Eight said. "But that is no excuse for ruining the afternoon."

"Eight, I could care less about whether or not we play turf games. What matters more to me is whether you're doing okay, physically and mentally. If you're not having fun, then I've failed  _ you _ , not the other way around."

"I… understand, but I hate it when I cause people to be sad. I've already done it enough while you were all trying to help save me," Eight said.

"I'm not really sad, just disappointed in myself," Four said. "But you know what? Let's put that behind us. You weren't a fan of turf war, but there's plenty of other stuff that we can do!"

"Oh? Is there?"

"Yeah!" Four counted off on her fingers. "There's skateboarding, and shopping, and karaoke, and museums… what are you in the mood for?"

Eight didn't know what any of those things were. Skate boarding? Kay ree oh key? She… had a lot to learn. But she did have one curiosity…

"Um… well, I was wondering if you had this up here, too…" Eight said hesitantly. The hesitance came from both her foggy memory and her unwillingness to be a burden to Four.

"Had what? I'm listening," Four said.

"Um… it's… well, there was this one time that I found a digital… device on the ground in my time as a part of the octarian army. I snuck it into my platoon's barracks and started fiddling with it. And it was really fun! There was a jumping man on the screen that I could move around with buttons. I played with it for a while that night. Then my sergeant found out that I had it the next day, and-" Eight cut herself off. Four didn't need to know about what happened to Eight after that. It would just distress her. In fact, the inkling already seemed to be figuring it out. She was looking at Eight worriedly.

"Hey…" Four shook her head, seemingly at her own thoughts. Then she perked up. "Um, that sounds like a video game! You'll love what we have up here!"

"Video games, huh?" said a new voice. "I know a great place."

Four and Eight nearly jumped out of their seats. They whipped their faces around and found their two teammates from the match beside them, their gas masks having been taken off.

"Sorry, Jason's got a bad habit of sneaking up on people," said the other boy, smacking his companion's shoulder in a chastising manner.

"Yeah, sorry," the taller of the two said, rubbing the back of his head.

"U-um, yeah, hi!" Four said. "Uh… what… brings you around here?"

"Well… you're literally just sitting at a table right outside of the turf war tower…" the shorter inkling boy said.

"Oh… well… okay, you aren't wrong," Four said.

"You guys kind of took off in a hurry back there, but I just wanted to say… WOW!" the taller one, Jason, said. He turned towards Eight. "I don't know how you did that, but that was the most incredible thing I've ever seen in all my years of turfing!"

"Um… thanks. It-it was my first time," Eight said. Then she regretted it. There had been no reason for her to admit that. Now she sounded like she was bragging!

"No way, you're joking, right?" Jason said. "Well, I guess that makes sense. They didn't have this in Octo-place… or wherever you're from, did they?"

Oh... so he knew. Eight leaned away a little bit. "Yes… or rather, no, we didn't… not recreationally," Eight said.

"Did you like doing it recreationally this time?" the shorter boy asked.

Eight looked to Four for some assistance, and the yellow-tentacled inkling shrugged and gestured for her to speak her mind.

"... Honestly, I didn't enjoy it very much," Eight said.

"Really? That's a shame. But eh, what can you do?" the shorter inkling boy said.

"So, back when I was totally snooping in on your conversation, you said something about wanting to find a place for video games, right? Well I know an awesome place down near Kelpberg Street. I'm sure you'll love it," The taller inkling boy said. "Oh yeah, by the way, I'm Jason."

"I'm Garret," the shorter of the two said.

Eight hesitated. This… felt like it was going  _ too _ smoothly.

"... Why are you being so nice to me?" Eight asked. "You seem like you know who I am and what I am, and yet you… you…"

"Wait, are people seriously still being rude to you because of the misunderstanding with the police?" Jason asked.

Four coughed. "It was a  _ little _ more than a misunderstanding…"

"Dude, I can't believe people sometimes," Garret said. "I mean seriously, we live around jellies and urchins and they're fine, but the moment that an octoling steps into Inkopolis everyone starts being hostile to her."

"Yeah, it kinda stinks that everyone thinks she's a terrorist," Four said. "Oh, uh, right. And I'm Four."

"Four?" Jason questioned.

"It's what my friends call me," Four said.

"Hello. I'm Eight," the octoling said.

"Lemme guess, that's a nickname too?" Jason asked.

"Actually, it's the only name I know for myself. I… don't remember a lot," Eight said.

"Long story, don't ask," Four said.

"Oookay…" Garret said. "So! The game store! Give them an address, Jason."

"Right. Here," Jason said, typing the address into his phone and then handing it to Four so she could copy it over into her phone.

"Well, thank you so much. We're gonna go check it out right now," Four said.

"Cool. We're going to dinner, so we'll see you later, I guess," Garret said.

"I hope we can meet again!" Eight said as she and Four stood up and as the two inkling boys went on their way. "They were really nice!"

"Yeah, they were," Four said. "Good to know that there are some people in the city who understand that you're a person too!" She looked down at her phone. "Now, let's go see this game store, shall we?"

Eight smiled and nodded. "I'd love to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, babyyyyy!!!
> 
> A few people have asked me about writing strategies in the comments of the last fic, and I wanted to make a distinction here:
> 
> You do _not_ have to replicate my writing style to be a good writer.
> 
> There are certain suggestions that you can incorporate into any writing style and probably should, but there are also little personal twists that everyone should bring to the table.
> 
> My writing style is one of simplicity. Whenever I was reading books, I found myself skipping long, descriptive sections of text. Therefore, I rarely make descriptions longer than a sentence or two of how something looks. I try to leave much of that up to your imagination, as readers.
> 
> However, this is _my_ style, not a rule. I urge you to explore your own writing and figure out what works for you. And, hey, if you make a fic, make sure to link it to me! I'd love to see it!
> 
> Also, everyone in Inkopolis hates poor babey Eight and it's not fair. And Four kind of sucks at afternoon plans.
> 
> Have a nice day!
> 
> Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that you should comment. :P


	3. Long Overdue

"Listen here you little shit," Pearl growled at the man behind the desk. "It has been a  _ month _ since we were freed of charges, and you're still hoarding our stuff. It's bad enough that our entire front foyer is completely destroyed thanks to you pigs, but this is just theft at this point!"

"I'm sorry miss, but the orders have to go through the proper channels before anything can be done," the desk worker responded in monotone. He didn't sound particularly apologetic.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you, you son of a bitch? You're a little bastard!" Pearl shouted.

"Alright Pearlie, that's enough," Marina said, tugging on Pearl's shoulder to get her to walk away. The taller cephalopod then turned back to the desk worker. "I  _ do _ expect this to be resolved within the next few days. I know our rights, and this is a direct breach of them."

The police desk worker rolled his eyes. "Whatever, octarian."

"What was that, bitch?!" Pearl shouted.

"Don't make a scene, please," Marina begged her girlfriend. Then she mumbled, "I'm used to it by now, anyways."

The two quickly donned their disguises (two face masks and a head scarf for Marina) and marched out of the police station, with the mood hanging heavy upon them.

Pearl spoke up after a minute or two of silence. "You shouldn't let people say things like that about you," she said.

Marina sighed. "What am I supposed to do? Attack them and prove them right? Plus, that policeman  _ was  _ right about what I am."

"No, you may be an octoling, but you're not an octarian, you know what I mean?" Pearl said.

"I… don't really follow," Marina said.

"... Well, you're an octoling, but you aren't part of that shitty Octarian Army. You're your own octo," Pearl said. "Them saying that is like they're trying to say that you're one of DJ Octavio's goons. And it sucks."

"I see your point now, but we just have to let them say what they want to say right now," Marina said. She crouched down to nuzzle Pearl's face. "Shall we head home?"

"It's not like there's much else we can do..." Pearl said.

The two called a cab and rode to their mansion. They kept conversation to a minimum during the ride- neither of them wanted the taxi driver to recognize their voices. But, after not too long, the two were entering the busted door to their mansion.

"God, this police thing sucks so much," Pearl said. "They have some of our really sentimental stuff, y'know?"

"Yes Pearlie, I know. I was there with you when we looked through the house," Marina said with a slight smirk. Her expression changed to one of curiosity, however, when the phone in Pearl's sweater pocket started buzzing.

The shorter cephalopod took the device out and examined the screen. "It's… my dad…"

"Really? It's been a while since the last time he tried to call you," Marina said.

Pearl cringed a little bit as the phone continued its vibrations. "I should just hang up again."

"No, you shouldn't," Marina said. "You haven't talked to him since… well, since everything happened. He deserves to know that everything's alright."

"... But what if he's… y'know…" Pearl said, and Marina  _ did _ understand. The smaller inkling was afraid that her father was going to be like so many other inklings were towards Marina now that her identity was revealed to the masses.

"If… that happens, I'll be here for you," Marina said. It was the best she could offer. She could only hope that this would go well.

Pearl took a deep breath through her nose. "Okay. I'll be right back." She stepped out of the front room.

Marina, now left to her lonesome, sat on the couch and waited for her girlfriend's return. She first laid on it like she normally would, but then she decided to reposition herself so that she would be able to see when Pearl came back in and give her a huge hug. It would be important, either to congratulate Pearl when things went well, or…

Marina shook her head. It was going to be alright.

... However, her certainty on this started to wane when she started hearing Pearl yelling, and she continued to become less confident as the inkling's shouting grew louder and more agitated. Marina didn't like the thought, but this was clearly going extremely poorly.

Several minutes later, Pearl trudged back into the room. Marina got out of her seat immediately, ready to go comfort her, but she didn't need to. Pearl dashed to her taller girlfriend, buried her face in her chest, and started bawling.

"Hey, hey, Pearlie, shhhhhh, shhhh," Marina tried to say calmingly, bringing her hand up to rub the back of her girlfriend's tentacles and planting her other hand firmly on Pearl's back.

The inkling's ugly crying didn't get any softer. She kept wailing and hiccuping and sobbing as if she couldn't even hear Marina.

The octoling just kept up her petting, hoping beyond hope that she was helping in some way. She hated seeing Pearl like this. Eventually, though, the crying did quiet down significantly. Once it was just just sniffles and muted whimpers, Marina tried to speak again.

"Pearlie? Baby?" she said.

"Can we… not talk about it please? I really… don't want to talk about it…" Pearl said in a weak voice that was very unlike her.

"Pearl, are you okay?" Marina said. It was the only thing she needed to know right now.

Pearl, however, stayed silent. It stayed this way for a bit, the silence feeling neither comforting nor oppressive, just… empty.

Finally, Pearl spoke up once again in that frail voice. "... Can we go to bed please?"

"Yes. Absolutely," Marina said. Right now, she would do anything to make Pearl feel just a little bit better.

The two made their way up to their bedroom, Marina staying as close to her girlfriend as physically possible the whole way. The octoling helped her inkling lover into the bed, and then was about to turn to go back downstairs and make some hot chocolate for her. However, Pearl wouldn't let her go.

"Please don't leave…" the inkling said. She sounded so broken…

"Alright, I won't," Marina said. She got herself dressed for bed and helped Pearl do so too. Then she turned off the light, laid down, and held Pearl tight against her.

* * *

Marina woke up to a buzzing noise. An annoying one. Annoying enough to wake her up while it was still dark and she was trying to comfort her girlfriend. Thankfully, it seemed that it hadn't woken Pearl, but Marina wanted to make sure it stayed that way. The DJ carefully extracted her own arms from around her smaller girlfriend, then made her way over to the dresser that Marina had placed their discarded day clothes on. She dug Pearl's phone out of the pile and examined the screen.

_ Daddy _ .

Marina felt the rage boil up in her immediately. This was the man who likely shouted at Pearl, and the man who made her cry. And he had the audacity to call again! Marina peeked at Pearl on the bed one more time before slinking out of the room and down a hallway to the music room. That room was noise-insulated, which was particularly useful considering that she was expecting this phone call to get  _ loud _ .

She pressed the 'Pick up' button.

" _ Pearl? Sweetie? _ " a male voice came over the other end.

Marina stayed in an anger-fueled silence. She hoped she wouldn't damage Pearl's phone with how hard she was gripping it.

" _ Sweetie, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said the things that I said. I'm just… really worried about you. Please say something, _ " Pearl's dad said. He sounded pretty genuine.

"... This isn't her. This is her partner in Off the Hook, Marina."

There was a noticeable pause on the other side of the line. " _ Oh… um… where is my daughter? _ "

"She's sleeping now after bawling her eyes out because of  _ you _ ," Marina said. She wasn't usually a hostile person, but sometimes exceptions had to be made. And that exception would always be made if someone hurt Pearl.

" _... Oh. I… I see. _ "

"Listen, I want an explanation and I want it now," Marina said. She had zero patience for this man at the moment.

" _... I… said some things to her that I shouldn't have. _ "

"Yeah, I figured out that much," Marina growled.

" _ I… I tried to persuade her to stop living with you and come back home. I know that it isn't your fault- I'm aware of that- but a lot of the people in Inkopolis want to see terrible things happen to you. I… don't want Pearl getting caught up in that. _ "

Marina was silent for several moments. It took everything in her not to scream at this man and ignore everything he was saying. But… how could she? She had felt this way, too. "...... I understand."

" _ Y-you- _ "

"Yes, I do," Marina said. "And trust me, the two of us have had discussions about this. About… distancing her from me for her own safety. I… uh… was never able to convince her."

" _ Oh. I see, _ " Pearl's father said.

"I don't fault you for asking her about that," Marina said. "What I  _ am _ concerned about is what you said after she said no. Because that's what made her cry herself to sleep, and that's what's unacceptable."

There was silence on the other side of the line for quite a bit. Just as Marina thought that the Pearl's dad might have left, he spoke up again.

" _... I told her that she was being stupid... and I threatened to cut her off from the family revenue. _ "

"Oh," Marina said.

" _ I said some other things, worse things… I wasn't thinking straight. It was the first time we had talked for weeks, and for me to do this to her… god, what kind of a father am I…? _ "

"Words are just words. I'm sure she'll forgive you in time you if you apologize to her," Marina said. "You were concerned for her safety, and I get that. But what you did right there was confirm every one of her fears. The whole reason she wasn't taking your calls was because she was afraid that you wouldn't be supportive of her choices. So even if Pearl forgives you right away, know that I won't be forgetting this. I can't ever forget when someone hurts her like that. I hope you won't forget this, either."

Another pause on the other side of the line. " _... You care a lot about my daughter. I can tell. _ "

Marina was staggered a bit by the change in tone. "Y-yes. I do."

" _ Please tell me… are you in a relationship with my daughter? _ "

Marina's heart rate quickened. "I… feel like it's Pearl's place to answer that, not mine."

" _I've had my suspicions for a while,_ " Pearl's dad continued. " _The way she talks about you shows how special you are to her. She actually didn't have many positive relationships before she met you. It was because her unpredictable abilities with her voice drove people away. But you appreciated her like nobody else did._ " He cleared his throat. " _I just want to make sure you cherish her. She's a gift. One that deserves better than what I give her. Please be the person in her life who never makes her feel betrayed._ "

Marina, for the first time in this whole phone call, allowed herself to smile a tiny bit. "I'm going to tell Pearl to call you again when she wakes up in the morning. Please ease her worries and let her know that you're on her side. She needs that."

" _ I will. _ "

"Goodbye, sir. Have a good night," Marina said.

" _ You as well. _ "

Marina hung up the phone. She made her way back down the hallway, creeped into the room, and placed Pearl's phone on the nightstand beside the small inkling. Speaking of Pearl, she appeared to be having a nightmare. She was tossing, turning, and sweating in her sleep. Marina quickly slipped into bed and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, who instantly relaxed under her touch.

Marina hoped to keep those doubts out of her girlfriend's head. At least until morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, some Off the Hook angst! I made Pearl sad and I'm not proud of it!
> 
> Comment below with your thoughts, or if you want to tell me to stop telling you to comment.
> 
> By the way, this fic is likely going to be on even more sporadic of an update cycle than the last one. If you want to be notified every time a new chapter's up, there's a subscribe button at the top of the page (as long as you have an account). This isn't like YouTube: I don't get anything from it (I'm not getting any payment from this whole fic other than your kind words and input), so subscribing would simply be for your own convenience.
> 
> Alright, anyways, comment. Bye!


	4. Unreliable

Three couldn't wrap her finger around it, but something had seemed off about Eight for a while. Not the usual 'off', like her crying whenever eating something remotely tasty. No, that was cute. Whatever was wrong with her right now was something that Three couldn't place her finger on, and that scared her.

Was she getting overwhelmed? That was one of the reasons that Marie had signed her up for counseling (among many other reasons), so that would kind of be weird after so many counseling sessions had already happened.

Whatever. Three was going to get to the bottom of it.

She poured some cereal (some of the ridiculously sugary shit, because Eight was spoiled) and brought it to her girlfriend at the couch. The octoling was watching Off the Hook on the news. Three was surprised that Pearl and Marina had been allowed to continue in their news anchor positions considering all of the hatred going around, but she was happy for them. But, as usual, the news wasn't particularly  _ happy _ , so…

Three pressed the power button on the TV. "Nope. Let's not hear about city-wide protests right now."

"Okay," Eight said quietly. She was curled up into a cute little ball on top of the couch. Three had to resist the urge to squish her little cheeks or something. No, Three, focus.

"Hey, you've been up here for a bit now, so I want to touch base. And please be honest- is the surface starting to feel like home for you?" she asked.

Eight opened her mouth. "I…" she paused. "Well…" again, she paused. "It's- I... It's great. Thank you for asking."

Three frowned. Eight had been doing that recently, second-guessing everything she said before she even said it. She clearly felt like she couldn't speak her mind.

"Eight, why do you do that?" Three said.

"Do what?" Eight asked.

"Prevent yourself from saying what you really want to say. You've started doing it a lot," Three said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to be more conscious of what I say," Eight said.

"Why's that?" Three asked.

"Oh, well the nice psychiatrist lady has been telling me a lot of things about what's proper up here," Eight said. "She also told me that octoling brains are naturally wired towards hatred and cruelty, so I'm trying to be much more careful about what I say. I'm sorry if I ever sound hateful to you. I'm working towards being better."

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed Eight's statements. Three's knuckles were white as she clamped down on the arm of the couch with her fingers.

"Three?" Eight asked.

"What. Else. Did she tell you?" Three verbalized through her rapidly-building rage.

"Um… she said that I shouldn't complain about my time in the Octarian Army because the treatment I got there was just my comeuppance for being involved with them. Is that relevant?"

Three stormed towards the door and yanked a jacket from the wall. "I'm heading out."

Eight's eyes widened and quickly filled with tears. "Did I say something wrong? I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean to offend you! Please don't hate me!"

"Eight... no. I could never hate you. I'm not mad at you," Three said, sparing a pitying glance towards her girlfriend. Her expression changed back to that of anger as she turned her gaze away, though. "I'm mad at literally everyone else."

* * *

Three banged on the door. "Marie, open the  _ fuck  _ up!"

After a minute or two of furious door assault, the white-tentacled Squid Sister opened the door, rubbing her eyes.

"Three... it's too early…"

"You're right. It  _ is  _ too early. It's too early to learn that the psychiatrist that you signed Eight up for has been saying horrible shit to her!" Three practically yelled in Marie's face.

Despite her grogginess, Marie looked at her fellow agent with an expression of genuine concern. "... Come in. Let's talk."

* * *

Marie held her head in her hands. "Oh god, I did a really bad thing…"

"It's fine. It's not like you could've known," Three said, putting a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm gonna make sure that Eight never goes back there. I know you signed Callie up for the same psychiatrist, so you should probably do the same for her."

".... SHIT!" Marie suddenly yelled. "Callie! Her appointment was today! She's there  _ right now _ !"

"Shit!" Three affirmed. "We need to get her away from there!"

"We need to go now! Let's go, let's go!" Marie said, bolting to her feet.

"Right behind you," Three said, following behind the Squid Sister as she rushed out the door.

* * *

"We're taking Callie home with us  _ right now _ , you hear me?!" Three banged her hands on the secretary's desk.

The secretary took a tissue and wiped away some coffee that had spilled from a mug on the desk because of all the shaking. "It can't be helped. I cannot allow you to enter the room or interrupt their session. It is unhealthy and unlawful."

"That's bullshit!" Three shouted out.

Marie grabbed her by the shoulder. She was making too much of a scene, and there  _ were _ other people in the room.

"Alright, we'll wait. Don't expect us to come back again, though," Marie said. She led Three to a chair and they both sat down.

"This is bullshit," Three said much quieter this time.

"Yeah, it is," Marie said.

They waited for about twenty minutes before the sound of a door opening could be heard coming from behind the desk area. Callie walked into the lobby, wiping away tears that were running down her face. She looked like she had been talking about some unpleasant stuff with the therapist today. Marie and Three stood from their seats.

"Callie," Marie said gently.

Callie's eyes went wide when she spotted her cousin and friend. She immediately turned away.

"Don't look at me…" she said, making an effort to wipe away the rest of her tears.

"Callie, we're here to take you out of this place," Three said.

"Wh-what?" Callie questioned, turning slightly back towards her fellow agents.

"We'll explain outside," Marie said.

"Um… o-okay," Callie stumbled.

They walked out of the office, Three sending the secretary one more dirty glare before slamming the door. The three traveled down a staircase and out of the building in silence. Then Marie spoke.

"Okay, now you can ask us any questions you want to," she said.

"Alright, well how about  _ why the fuck did you come here to pick me up _ ?!" Callie burst out.

"Because it turns out that your psychiatrist is a terrible person," Marie said.

"What?" Callie questioned.

"You share the same shrink as Eight, remember? Well, that lady's been putting some really nasty shit into my girlfriend's head. Mainly racist shit," Three said.

"Uhh, no. Ms. Brannen has been pretty nice to me! I can't imagine her being like… that!" Callie said.

"Cal, you need to remember that you are an inkling, so you won't get nearly the same treatment as Eight does," Marie said. "I… Three told me what 'Ms. Brannen' was telling Eight, and… It's just not right. Not right at all."

Three sighed. "I hate this. How the fuck am I supposed to convince Eight that she's not a horrible person when everyone else is giving her the exact opposite message? It's just…. Gah! I suck at this."

"Don't say that. It's an impossible situation and you're still trying so hard. That counts for something," Marie said.

"Umm… hey…" Callie said. "Can you… can you tell me what the psychiatrist said to Eight that was so bad?"

Three looked to Marie. "Can you talk with her about this? I've got my own person to get back to."

Marie nodded. "Go reassure your girlfriend. I've got this."

"Thanks. See ya, Marie! See ya, Callie!" Three waved to the two and started jogging away.

"Uh… see ya! Hope we get to talk soon...!" Callie said, still seeming a little confused.

"Just go already, you big old lesbian!" Marie shouted.

"It takes one to know one!" Three shouted back before super jumping.

* * *

Three sauntered up to the apartment door. In her rush to leave she literally forgot her keys, so it was a good thing that Eight was still there. The inkling agent knocked on the door and it was almost instantaneously thrown open.

"Three!" Eight cheered before diving into a hug.

"Whoa, okay! Someone missed me, I guess!" Three said. "Weren't my messages from the waiting room enough?"

Eight squeezed her tighter. "I'm sorry, I'm just… confused."

"Yeah, I get that," Three said. She pulled a little bit out of the hug so she could see Eight's face. She couldn't help herself, so she gave the octoling a little peck on the lips before speaking. "Let's go inside and I can explain it to you."

Eight reluctantly let the inkling go. Both cephalopods made their way inside. Three then saw what her girlfriend had been doing while she was gone through the fortress of pillows and blankets on the TV room floor. God, Eight was adorable.

Eight sat down on a pillow, and Three sat down across from her.

"Eight, I hate that you have to deal with so many people telling you that you're awful when you're actually such a wonderful person," Three said. "It's just… gah, it frustrates me so much!"

"You shouldn't worry about it so much. After all, my psychiatrist  _ was _ right. The octarian army is filled with so many cruel people. It was wrong to be associated with them," Eight said.

"Yeah, but it's not like you had a choice! They were using you as a sacrificial pawn, and yet your psychiatrist seemed to think it was all your idea!" Three exclaimed, disgruntledly plopping backwards onto another pillow. She was careful not to knock over any of Eight's hard work.

Eight looked pensive for a moment. "So I'm not going to be seeing her anymore?"

"God, no. She was telling you some terrible shit," Three said.

Eight started hugging herself with her arms. "I… that's… wow. I, um… I really trusted her for a while there…"

Three lurched forward to envelop Eight in her arms. "Oh, baby. I get it. You feel like you were betrayed, and you kind of were. I'm so sorry."

Three could hear Eight's breath become more irregular as she was just on the verge of crying. "I-it's just… I-I've been betrayed so much… this and Tartar a-and the Octarians and… it feels like I can't trust anyone… I can only trust you, and Marina and Pearl... Craig and Four, Marie… a-and Callie, too…"

"That's right, we're all here for you even if nobody else is right now. We'll always support you. Now shhhhh, just let it out," Three said.

Eight's breath started getting shakier, and then she began crying into Three's shoulder. The inkling, meanwhile, grasped as solidly as she could onto the weeping octoling. She wanted to be an anchor for her, if possible.

It occured to Three that Eight probably had to completely suppress her emotions when she was in the Octarian Army in order to avoid horrible, horrible punishments. She had probably barely been allowed to cry in her whole life, and yet Three had seen it multiple times. She was honored to have Eight show her so much vulnerability, and she didn't intend to let that faith go to waste.

"It's okay to feel what you're feeling. Let me be here for you right now," Three said, rubbing shapes and patterns into her girlfriend's back. Eight's crying got louder and her shaking more pronounced. Even more vulnerability. "Shhhhh, shhhhhhh, it's alright. I will never betray you."

"I know," Eight said through her sobs. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be," Three assured her.

Eight's crying slowly died down, and Three held her the whole way through. Eventually, Eight wriggled a little bit to let Three know to let go of her. The inkling pressed a quick kiss against her rounded ear before releasing her.

"Thank you," Eight said.

"It's what I'm here for," Three said.

"You're here for much more than my sake," Eight said.

"Yeah, but that's what I  _ want _ to be here for," Three said.

"I love you, Three," Eight said, curling up on the floor and resting her head on Three's lap. The whole thing set off some pleasant butterflies in the inkling's stomach.

"I love you too," she said. She stroked Eight's tentacles for a bit. "... Hey, would playing some of those games you got with Four make you feel any better?"

Eight gave a gentle smile. "That sounds lovely."

"Cool. Totally gonna demolish you, though," Three said, which made Eight giggle. It was always such a lovely sound. Three would give anything for Eight to be able to laugh like that more. If only the world would conform to her wishes…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... I've been making a lot of characters cry, recently. I can't escape the angst.
> 
> Anyways, comment if you have something you'd like to say or if you object to my horribly immoral treatment of my characters.
> 
> I'm out! Peace!


	5. News Flash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today was the day my family was celebrating Christmas. I got some great presents, and gave some too!
> 
> But I would be remiss if I didn't give something to all of you. You're all really important to me, too!
> 
> So, Merry Holidays! Here's a brand new chapter!

"That's right! Blackbelly Skatepark is comin' back!" Pearl said with some exaggerated poses.

"After many weeks of work, the map has been degoopified and is now ready for play," Marina said. "Just… don't wander out of bounds. That could get dangerous."

"As for the other maps that have been out of rotation, they're being worked on right now. We'll keep you up-to-date on the progress, so keep tuning in!" Pearl said.

To those watching the news, the two members of Off the Hook probably looked quite composed. In reality, though, they were anything but.

"Go back home, octarian!!!" one of the protestors on the other side of the glass yelled.

Someone threw something at the glass and Marina flinched. It didn't matter what it was. She knew who it was aimed at.

"Alright, folks," Pearl said. "Don't get cooked-"

"Stay Off the Hook!" both newscasters said in sync.

"Fuck you!" shouted someone else from outside. Thankfully the camera had already stopped recording.

The two stars made their way out of the recording room so that they could be out of the public eye.

"Marina, I am  _ this  _ close to hitting one of those assholes," Pearl said, pinching her fingers.

Marina sighed. "I know, Pearlie. But that would just make things so much worse."

"It would be worth it…" Pearl muttered.

"No, it wouldn't be and you know it," Marina teased. She was trying to be as lighthearted as she could about the situation, but it was hard. Really, really hard.

The director finished talking with a member of the crew and walked up to the idols. He looked… tired.

"That was great, you two. Really good job," he said. "I'm sorry about… well, you know…"

"Not your fault, pal, don't worry," Pearl said. "I mean, I'm still impressed that you didn't immediately fire us. Our agent left us immediately after the whole 'reveal'."

"Hey, you're good newscasters, inkling or not. That's what really matters to me," The director said. Though it was a nice sentiment, he looked anxious all the way through the statement.

"Is everything okay? You look a little stressed," Marina asked him.

"... Yes, well… our viewership has been dipping in the past few days, and there's going to be a board meeting to discuss it. I've been invited, and… it might not go well," the director said.

"I'm sorry about that. But try and stay positive! Things might just turn out all right!" Marina said with a smile.

"... Yeah, I suppose," the Director said, not sounding entirely convinced.

* * *

"I am so fucking glad that we haven't given our address to the public," Pearl said as she picked up a remote to turn on their flat-screen TV. "I'm sure the little bastards would be picketing us and trashing the place. Pieces of shit."

"Pearl! You can't say things like that! Those used to be our fans!" Marina protested.

"They clearly aren't anymore," Pearl said. "To be honest, were they ever? The fuckers jumped ship the exact  _ moment  _ they found out you weren't an inkling. Seems like they never really respected the real you." The inkling kicked her feet up on the bed. "But it's time to stop thinking about that. It's chill time now."

As if in direct contradiction to that statement, Marina's phone started ringing. She took it off the bedside table and held it up to her ear.

"Hello?.... Oh! Um, may I put you on speaker phone?.... Okay, great."

Marina tapped her phone, then put it back on the table. "Okay, we should both be able to hear you now."

" _... Good. Great. That's, uh… good, _ " the voice on the other end said. It was the director.

"Uh oh, you don't sound like you had a good meeting," Pearl said.

" _... The board has… decided that I am no longer a good fit for the job of director and will be finding someone to take my place, _ " the man said.

"What?! That's bullshit!" Pearl shouted.

" _ That's capitalism. I stopped making consistent money for them, so... they wanted someone who could make that happen, _ " the ex-director said.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Director. That is so unfair," Marina said.

" _ Thank you, but I wasn't calling to tell you I got fired. I called for your sakes. _ "

"Huh?" Pearl tilted her head.

" _ The board was fairly specific about one change they wanted to make, and that was replacing you two as the hosts, _ " the ex-director said. " _ There's nothing I can do about it now. They're going to try to take your jobs. _ "

"What? Jesus Christ! Those assholes!" Pearl cried out.

"I… I should have expected this…" Marina said.

" _ I've been trying to fight them on it ever since the whole debacle happened. But… it's out of my hands now. I'm sorry, _ " the ex-director said. " _ I'm going to be looking for a new job. You should too. _ "

"... You don't have to be sorry about anything. Thanks for sticking your neck out for us," Pearl said.

" _.... Yeah. Well, I wish you the best of luck. _ "

"You too," Marina said, and then the phone clicked as the call dropped.

* * *

The next morning, they got the call. Their employment was terminated. Off the Hook would no longer be hosting the news. At least they had been prepared. That made it a little more tolerable.

However, they found out that they were not the first people to hear the announcement. It had been broadcast online to everyone before they were even told about it. And… people were so happy about it. There was cheering on almost every website that the information was posted on.

It was a quiet morning between Pearl and Marina.

* * *

"... What are we going to do?" Marina finally said.

"... I don't know. I… this is rough, man," Pearl said.

"Yeah… it is…"

"... I knew how the people felt about us now, but I still wasn't ready for them to be like… that," Pearl said.

"Me too. I… I should have known this day would come, but I'm thoroughly unprepared to deal with this," Marina said.

They lulled into another silence. The sun was now high in the sky, signaling that it was near lunch time, but neither of the cephalopods had much of an appetite at the moment.

Pearl broke the silence with a sigh. "You're blaming yourself for this, aren't you?"

Marina rubbed her own arm. "Maybe a little bit… I know that realistically I had no control over what happened, but… deep inside of me, some part still feels guilty."

"Yeah, I get it," Pearl said. "Just remember that that part of you is lying to you. You didn't do a goddamn thing to deserve this."

"Thank you, Pearlie," Marina said.

Another silence, this one just as heavy as the last. Pearl checked her phone, scowled at it, then put it away. Only bad news to see on there. So she just pondered for a while, stewing in the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"... Hey," Pearl said.

"Yes?" Marina said, eager to have the silence broken.

"We might have an option of what to do," Pearl said.

"Oh? What's that?"

"Well, we're technically secret agents, aren't we?" Pearl said. "We could see what we could set up with the NSS, maybe?"

"Pearl… that's a great idea," Marina said. It lacked the enthusiasm that she might have shown at another time, but at least it was still praise. "We should call them and see what we can do."

"Cool," Pearl said. "Question: who do we call? 'Cause there's Craig, who's apparently the boss or something, and then there's Marie, who made us agents in the first place. Or maybe we're supposed to call Three or something?"

"Hmm, that is an interesting question… who do you call in a segmented underground force of secret agents?" Marina said.

"So, whaddya think, Marie or Craig?"

"I… don't know. Maybe we should flip a coin?"

"Okay," Pearl said. She dug a quarter out of her wallet and held it out. "Which side is which?"

"Let's go… tails for Marie, heads for Craig," Marina said.

"Nice. That way he can still spit hot fire!" Pearl said.

Marina giggled just a little bit. The weight of the situation was slowly starting to dissipate.

"Kay, here we go," Pearl said. She tossed the coin into the air, tried to catch it, missed it on the way down, and watched it swivel to a stop on the floor. "... I meant to do that."

"Uh-huh, I'm sure," Marina said sarcastically.

Pearl stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend, then examined the coin. "Heads. Craig it is."

"I'll call him up," Marina said. She selected his contact, pressed the speaker button, and waited. The dialing noise played for a bit.

" _ Hello? _ " the elderly voice eventually came through.

"Hey, Craig," Pearl said.

" _ Ah, hello. I… heard about the news. I'm sorry. _ "

Marina sighed. "Yes, it is… a difficult situation for us. That's why we're calling."

" _ Oh! Marina! You startled me, I didn't know you were on the call, too, _ " Cuttlefish said.

"It's called speaker phone, Craig," Pearl said.

" _ Darn this newfangled technology… _ " Cuttlefish mumbled. " _ Anyways, I will help in whatever way I can. I owe it to you after you helped with saving my granddaughter. _ "

"Well, since we're out of a job now, do you have any room for some more full-time agents?" Pearl asked.

" _ Ah, I see. I definitely think we can squeeze you two in, _ " Craig said. " _ I'll talk with the Major about it. Actually, Agent Three is speaking with him right now. Maybe I should ask her to… no, I'll ask him myself." _

__ "Thank you, Craig- er, Captain," Marina said.

" _ No problem at all. And rest assured that you will still be able to carry on with your music careers while you are working with us. That's what Agents One and Two do. _ "

"Um, thank you, but… I don't think our music career is going to be… going anywhere any time soon…" Marina said. And the weight of the situation came back all at once for the two idols.

" _ Hey, don't look at it that way. Sure, you were able to be replaced for the news, but no one is going to be able to replace your songs. Those are one of a kind, and I'm sure people will begrudgingly start buying them after a while, _ " Cuttlefish said.

"... Wow, that was actually really encouraging. Are you sure we're talking to the right person?" Pearl teased.

" _ I'll have you know that I'm an excellent motivational speaker, missy, _ " Cuttlefish argued. " _ You just haven't seen me when I'm really in action yet. _ "

"I believe you," Marina said, definitely not believing him. It was hard to argue that he had lightened the mood, though.

" _ So when can I expect you over here for your orientation? _ " Cuttlefish said.

"Tomorrow seems good. That work for you, Marina?" Pearl asked.

"Well, our schedule is remarkably clear now, so yes, we'll be there. Octo canyon, correct?" Marina asked.

" _ Yes. I look forward to see- _ " and then the call ended.

"Um?" Marina questioned.

"I think he accidentally pressed the 'hang up' button," Pearl said

"That sounds like him," Marina said.

"Hey," Pearl said. "I think things are going to be okay now."

"Yeah. We've got a plan," Marina said.

"Cool. Can we go eat now? I'm starving," Pearl said.

Marina smiled. Things were going to be alright.

"Yeah. Let's eat," she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... This was supposed to be a holiday gift to the fans, and instead I got Off the Hook fired.
> 
> ... Huh.
> 
> Whatever. I still want all of you to know how much I appreciate you. I seriously am super motivated because of you lovely, lovely people. Don't change. Keep being great.
> 
> In fact, I have a challenge for all of you: write a fic of any fandom (I'd say shoot for 500 words or more) and gift it to your favorite writer in that fandom. Try and do it before the holiday that you celebrate comes to a close, but don't feel pressured. Any writer would be glad to have your pieces at any time of year.
> 
> Let's call it "Ficmas". Merry Ficmas, everyone. Spread some happiness with your incredible work! And put "Merry Ficmas" in the tags so that I can read each and every one of them as they come up!
> 
> Happy Holidays, and also comment!


	6. An Unwanted Mission

Eight turned her head when the door to Three's apartment opened. She was back.

Three sighed as she closed the door behind her. "Hey, Eight."

"Hi! Welcome home!" Eight said cheerfully. "How was your meeting with the Major?"

"I still don't like the guy," Three said. " _But_ he's where my paycheck comes from, so I live with it."

"I see," Eight said. "Well, what did he want to talk with you about?"

"Technically he told me to keep it confidential, but I don't give a shit about what he wants, so I'll tell you," Three said. "Something that you should know about him is that he is very concerned about NSS equipment not falling into the wrong hands."

Eight nodded. She understood that. Some of the Squidbeak Splatoon weaponry was profoundly powerful, and the thought of one of DJ Octavio's elite soldiers wielding a Hero Shot to terrorize the inkling population was… unpleasant to say the least.

"Well, I lost my Hero Shot, so he wants me to go retrieve it. I'm heading out to find it right now, actually," Three said, heading into the bedroom.

"Oh? Do you know where it is?" Eight asked.

"Kamabo. I lost it when I got taken over by Tartar that second time," Three shouted out from the room.

Eight immediately froze up. "K-Kamabo?"

"Yup," Three said, coming out of the bedroom dressed in her Hero gear. "That's where I'm going."

Eight lurched out of her seat and latched onto Three's arm. "No! Please don't go!"

"Woah, Eight-"

"Don't go to that horrible place again! Please, please don't!"

"Eight, I _have_ to go. It was a direct order, and I need that gun back anyways," Three said.

"... Then take me, too," Eight said.

"No!" Three said harshly, concern dripping from her voice. "I can handle going back there, but it would be really, really bad for you."

"I can handle the place! I've made it through twice!" Eight protested.

"Eight, dammit, this isn't about you being capable, it's about you literally having a mental breakdown!" Three said. "Kamabo has done some unimaginable things to you. I can't in good conscience let you suffer through those memories again. Stay here. Please."

Eight hesitated, then reluctantly let go of the inkling's arm. One of her hands lightly grabbed Three's on the way down.

"Please," Eight barely whispered, "please don't..."

"... I'm sorry…" Three said before yanking her hand from Eight's and heading out the door.

Eight sank to the floor. The thought of Three in Kamabo again was too much to bear. What if she got hurt? Or if she somehow got taken over again? What if the sanitized octarians grabbed her by the limbs and dragged her writhing and screaming body into the horrible, sterile labs and strapped her to a chair and stuck a needle in her arm and started pumping her full of sanitization fluid until it hurt and she couldn't bear the pain and her mind was slowly being corrupted…

Eight was on the floor, curled up into a ball. She didn't remember how she got there, but she didn't really care. Her girlfriend was risking her life for, what, a piece of plastic? No, Eight shouldn't look at it that way. Three was smart and knew that getting the Hero Shot back was important. But… was it really that important...?

Eight needed to call someone. The stifling silence of the apartment was grating on her nerves already. She opened her phone and picked a contact at random.

The phone rang out for quite a while before anyone picked up.

" _Hello_?" Marie's voice finally came through. She seemed to be somewhere pretty noisy.

"H-hey, Marie…" Eight said.

" _Hang on one second, Eight,_ " Marie said. She seemed to move into a quieter room. " _Okay. Hi, Eight. How are things going?_ "

"Marie, I-" and then all of a sudden the tears started. Eight tried desperately to hold them back, but they just forced their way out.

" _Whoa, whoa, Eight, are you crying?_ " Marie said. " _What's wrong? Is everything okay?_ "

"Th-Three… sh-she's going b-back to Kamabo," Eight whimpered out.

" _What?! You're kidding! Why would she do that?!_ " Marie said. She was practically shouting, actually.

"The- The Major told her to…" Eight said.

" _... He did not,_ " Marie said in disbelief. " _I can't believe him. He's gotten our reports! He knows what happened to you two down there! And you're both still not done with your recovery! This is unbelievable!_ "

"I-I don't know what t-to do. I-I tried to g-go with her, but she said no," Eight said, hiccuping all the way through.

" _Eight, having you go down there would not make the situation any better,_ " Marie said. " _Look, call Gramps. He might have something he can do. I'm sorry, I'm at a date right now, so I can't really do anything._ "

Eight immediately felt bad. "Oh, I'm s-sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt your time with Four!"

" _No, it's fine. I… uh… needed the break. What's happening over here is kind of a disaster,_ " Marie said. " _Just call the Cap'n. Maybe he'll have a solution._ "

"Alright…" Eight said. "Thank you."

" _Take care of yourself, Eight._ "

"... I'm sorry," Eight said quickly before hanging up. She felt terrible. _She_ should have stopped Three. Now she was relying on other people to make up for her shortcomings.

She wiped her tears away and selected Cuttlefish's contact. It was all she could really do at this point. It was either that, or get up off the floor, and she didn't have the will to do the second option.

This time, the phone was picked up much faster.

" _Hello, Agent Eight!_ " Cuttlefish's voice came through. " _I seem to be quite popular on the phone today!_ "

"Um… Marie said I should talk to you…"

" _Hmm? About what, may I ask?_ " Cuttlefish asked.

Eight gripped onto the bottom of her crop-top, scrunching the fabric in her hand. "Three… Three is going to Kamabo right now."

" _She's WHAT?!_ " Cuttlefish shouted a little too loud into the microphone. " _That reckless kid… why would she be going back there?"_

Eight found the strength to at least sit up on the floor. "The Major ordered that she retrieve her Hero Shot."

Cuttlefish audibly sighed on the other end of the line. " _That very much sounds like him. I will speak to him about this tomorrow. He clearly doesn't understand the weight that that place holds for you two._ "

"I… thank you," Eight said.

" _Agent Eight, are you_ _okay?_ "

"Huh?" Eight said. She hadn't been expecting that question.

" _You. Are you, Agent Eight, doing alright? Do you need someone to come to your place and talk with you?_ "

"O-oh, no. I'm fine, thank you," Eight said automatically.

Cuttlefish didn't sound convinced. " _Tell you what, Three keeps a stash of emergency candy hidden in one of her cabinets. Go find it and splurge a little._ "

Eight tilted her head. She didn't realize that Three was the kind of person who liked sweet stuff like that. Also… "But that's Three's candy…"

" _You two are in a relationship and you aren't feeling well. She'll understand,_ " Cuttlefish said. " _Plus, you can blame it on me._ "

"I…" Eight started, and then she stopped herself. Arguing wasn't going to get her anywhere. "... Yes. Thank you."

" _And once Agent Three comes back- and she WILL come back, please tell her to consult me next time that something like this comes up,_ " Cuttlefish said. " _Can you do that for me, Agent?_ "

"Yes. I can," Eight said. "... Thank you, Captain. I mean it."

" _No worries,_ " Cuttlefish said. " _She is going to be fine, Agent Eight._ "

"I know. She's strong," Eight said. As scared as she was about this, Eight knew that there was nothing to be afraid of. Three had made it through Kamabo twice. One more time wouldn't kill her.

" _Alright. Be well, Agent._ "

"Thanks. You too."

Eight hung up the phone. She was feeling a lot better. She felt lucky to know the people she knew, and that they cared enough about her problems to help her. But… she still was worried about Three. Terribly so. So she got up from the floor, brushed herself off, and started searching the kitchen cabinets.

* * *

The door opened, and Eight practically catapulted herself across the apartment. Three stumbled backwards from the force of the octoling's tackle hug.

"I was so worried…" Eight said.

"Hey, hey, I'm alright! I was only gone a couple of hours! And I've got this now," Three patted the Hero Shot at her hip. "I don't think we'll ever have to go down there again."

Eight stayed silent and just squeezed her girlfriend as tightly as she could. She started imagining what would have happened if Three never came home. What she would have done…

"I'm okay, Eight. We're okay," Three cooed, rubbing the octoling's back.

"Don't do that again. Don't do it…" Eight said, her voice muffled by Three's Hero Vest.

"Okay. Alright, I won't. I promise I won't," Three assured her. "I'm sorry I made you worry so much."

"... It's okay…" Eight said.

"No, it isn't. I felt horrible about it the entire time I was out. I don't want to leave you feeling like that again," Three said. "... Especially because Cap'n called me on my headset and left me with some very _choice_ words."

"H-he did?" Eight asked. "I'm sorry… I told him about the situation, but I didn't mean for him to yell at you…"

"I deserved it," Three said. "Anyways, how are you? Are you okay? What were you doing while I was gone?"

Eight was reluctant to answer. She guiltily kicked her feet at the ground. "... I was eating candy…. from your secret stash."

"Oh. Yeah, fair enough," Three said.

"You aren't upset?" Eight asked.

"Nah, stress eating is what it's there for. Was it good?"

"... It was delicious," Eight said.

"Cool. I'll get you some more," Three said. "Just don't let me eat it, because I'll eat _all_ of it."

"Hey," Eight said, finally letting go of the inkling. "... What happened in Kamabo?"

"Oh right. Of course you would want to know about that," Three said. "It's actually not so bad anymore, surprisingly. C.Q. really cleaned the place up. As much as I hate the guy for blowing you up a bunch, I have to admit that he gets shit done."

"I got that impression from him. He always seemed like he was organized," Eight said. "He seems like he works very hard for his metro."

"Definitely. I could almost forget that the place used to be a horrible murder-slash-torture dungeon," Three said. "Anyways, C.Q. found the Hero Shot while he was cleaning the place. He took me to a station where he had it in a locker and… well, that was that." Then the inkling seemed to have a realization. "Wait! One more thing!"

She dug into her pockets for a moment, then came out with a shiny, gold pin. It looked quite entrancing and beautiful. Three kneeled down and presented it as if it were some kind of sacred sword.

"An apology gift for you, my lady," she said in a theatrical tone.

"For me?" Eight asked. She took the pin. "I love it… but what do I do with it?"

"I think it's a tentacle pin," Three said, rising from her kneeling position. She gently took the pin back from Eight. "Here, let me just…" She put her hands soothingly through Eight's tentacles for a bit. Then she backed up. "Oh yeah, that works. That _really_ works. That is a hell of a look."

Eight felt at her tentacles for the pin and found it near her left ear.

"Thank you, Three," Eight said.

"My pleasure," Three said, doing a little bow that Eight couldn't help but giggle at. "So, you hungry? Wanna go out and grab a bite?"

"Umm…" Eight hesitated. "I don't know if I want to be around people right now."

"I understand that," Three said. "I promise: never again. I will _not_ go into Kamabo ever again, and I will _not_ make you feel abandoned like that again. I swear it."

"I believe you," Eight said with a calm smile.

"Cool," Three said. Then she smirked. "If you don't wanna go out for food, then…" she comedically wiggled her eyebrows a bit. "Pizza?"

Eight, once again, giggled. "Pizza sounds great."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Actual Christmas! I made Eight cry again!
> 
> So how are your Ficmas stories going? I'm hungry for details! Please leave a comment about it, or if you're done just send me the link! Remember: "Merry Ficmas" in the tags. I'm really excited to see all of them!
> 
> Other than that, feel free to comment about how I refuse to give Eight a break. Bye now!


	7. Three's a Crowd

"So…" Marie said hesitantly.

"This is…" Four said.

"Great!" Callie chimed in from beside the two lovers in what was _supposed_ to be a date. "I've been wanting to see this movie for weeks! Thanks for inviting me!"

"Yes… inviting you…" Marie said uncomfortably.

"Man, this is gonna be so great," Callie said. "Just you two and me, watching a movie in this theater we rented out. Could it get more perfect?"

Four opened her mouth to say something, legitimately could not think of anything to say, and shut it again.

"Oh! The movie's starting!" Callie said. Indeed it was. The screen faded in to show some sort of fantasy… thing. Honestly, Four was a little too distracted to pay any attention.

She leaned in towards Marie and whispered into her ear. "How did we get into this situation?"

"I-I don't know, I couldn't say no to her! Especially with how she's been after the incident…" Marie mumbled back.

"I get it, but… she's kind of crashing our date," Four whispered.

"I know, Four," Marie whispered back, exasperated.

"BOOOO!" Callie shouted, throwing popcorn in the direction of the screen as the clear antagonist showed up.

"Look, let's just deal with it for now. We'll figure something out after the movie," Marie mumbled into Four's ear.

"Got it," the shorter inkling responded before turning back to the screen.

* * *

It was uncomfortable, but the couple made it through the entirety of the movie without going stir-crazy. Callie definitely didn't make it easy, though.

"Wow, that movie sucked. I loved it!" Callie said, bouncing in the theater seat.

"... Uh-huh..." Four said. Well, Callie wasn't _wrong_ , but the situation was quite a bit less enjoyable for two out of the three viewers.

"Alright, I'm glad we came," Marie said, getting up from her seat.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing me!" Callie said enthusiastically.

"Let's get out of here," Marie said, and the entourage followed her out of the building. Once they were outside, Marie spoke again. "So, thanks for joining us, Callie."

"No prob," Callie said.

Marie looked directly at Four. "Now we are going to go get dinner."

"Cool! Where are we going?" Callie said.

"No, Callie, I'm saying _we're_ going to get dinner," Marie said, gesturing between herself and Four.

"Yeah. And _I'm_ asking what restaurant we're going to," Callie said.

"Callie," Marie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Me and Four are going to the restaurant. You are not."

The information seemed to take a second to register in Callie's head. Then her eyes started tearing up. "You don't want to hang out with me anymore?"

"N-no, I didn't-" Marie fumbled. "That's not-"

"That's fine… I'll just go… I don't want to ruin your fun…" Callie said, turning away.

"Wait," Four said. "... You don't have to leave."

"Hm?" Callie said immediately. "Really?"

Four suddenly realized what she had said and immediately regretted it. But… it was too late now.

"... Yeah. You can… come eat with us," Four said reluctantly.

Marie closed her eyes and gave an expression that could only be described as, 'god damn it'.

"Thanks, Four!" Callie said, all traces of tears gone. "So, where are we eating?"

* * *

"Anyways, that's why I don't play guitar anymore," Callie said, seeming highly entertained by her own story.

It was a… mildly interesting story at least. That was what Four thought. It was still annoying, though, because it felt like she couldn't get a word in edgewise to Marie.

"I mean, Four used to sing. That's kind of similar," Marie said. "By the way, I'm glad that you're practicing a little more, Four. I'm serious when I say that you have a beautiful singing voice."

Four blushed. "Thanks. I… I can never quite get used to you saying that."

"Yeah, speaking of which, when's our next recording session, Marie?" Callie said.

_That_. That right there was what was so frustrating. Callie kept cutting off conversations so quickly that nothing meaningful could be said. Four was going crazy.

"Umm, well…" Marie said, and then her phone started buzzing. She whipped the device out without a moment of hesitation. "Oh! I'd better take this! Right now! I'm gonna head to the bathroom!" The white-tentacled Squid Sister fled the scene at speeds that Four could only dream of achieving.

"Huh," Four said.

"... Wonderful. Now we have some time to chat, one-on-one," Callie said, and something about the way she said it set off alarm bells in Four's head. It sounded… hostile.

Four turned to look at the other inkling, and the stare that she was greeted with made it feel like the temperature of the room had dropped ten degrees.

"So, _Four_ ," Callie said, spitting the agent's name out as if she was on trial, "you've taken an interest in my sister."

Four fumbled. What was she supposed to say to that? Yes? No? Yes? Probably yes. "Yes?"

"You know how important she is, don't you?" Callie said.

"Yes?" Four said again, sweating.

"Then you must understand that you are incredibly lucky to have her," Callie said. " _Unbelievably_ lucky."

Four gulped. It was like Callie was a completely different person. This was scarier than when she was trying to kill everyone! And that other time when she had been trying to kill everyone!

"Honestly, I'm not sure you're good enough for her," Callie said. "I mean, she's a quick-witted, silver-tongued celebrity with a heart of gold. What do you have to bring to the table that can match _that_?"

Four opened her mouth, then shut it again. Callie was right. Four wasn't anything special. Why _should_ Marie date her over any of the more interesting or more capable people in the world? Four was just… Four.

"Anyways, just thought you should know my feelings about that," Callie said. "Oh and also, if you don't treat her right, I will not hesitate to cut you. Got that?"

Four swallowed hard and nodded.

"Good, good," Callie said.

And then Marie returned to the table. "Hey, it was Eight. She's having some… issues."

"Oh. Hope everything's okay!" Callie said, her attitude taking a complete one-eighty.

"I hope so, too..." Marie said. "Anyways, what were we talking about?"

"Actually, I'm gonna head out," Callie said. "I've got something I've got to do at Cuttlefish Cabin. You two have fun!"

Marie quirked an eyebrow. "Um… okay? Bye?"

Callie waved, and then disappeared into the crowd of people waiting for their tables near the door.

"Well, I guess we can finally have our date now," Marie said.

"Uh-huh," Four said, dumbfounded.

"Uh, everything okay? You look kinda spooked."

"Uh-huh," Four said again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I was planning on uploading yesterday, but... well, I found out a close friend of mine died from complications in the hospital. I'm doing alright, I just needed a moment to process.
> 
> Anyways, Callie is being... not so great to Four. Guess you'll just have to see where this goes from here!
> 
> Also, yes, the three last chapters all took place on the same day.


	8. A Jovial Get-Together

Pearl opened the door with a large smile. "Welcome, honored guests!"

"Haha, very funny Pearl," Three said, standing outside of the door wrapped up in a heavy jacket and scarf. "We both know I'm  _ anything _ but honored."

"I was talking about Eight, but I guess I'm glad you're here, too," Pearl said.

The two inklings exchanged some stuck-out tongues, and then Pearl gave Eight a big hug.

"Thank you for inviting us," Eight said, returning the hug.

"Yeah! Wanted the whole gang together so we could touch base, you know?" Pearl said.

"Yeah, cool, can we come in? I'm freezing my tits off out here," Three said, shivering. Snow was torrenting from the sky, so it was understandable.

"Yeah, yeah, come in!" Pearl said. As Eight and Three shuffled their way in, the shorter inkling started regretting asking for everyone to wear formal dress. Maybe she should have actually checked the weather before making those plans. At least  _ she _ felt cute in her nice skirt and top.

"Eight! Three! Welcome!" Marina said, coming from the kitchen and hugging the smaller octoling. "It's been too long."

"It has! I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with you two," Eight said.

"That's alright. We've all had a lot on our minds recently," Marina said, backing out of the hug. Then she opened her arms towards Three. "Can I give you a hug?"

"Umm…" Three hesitated, then relented. "Yeah, sure..."

The tall octoling wrapped her arms around the inkling, who didn't exactly reciprocate the hug but also didn't resist it.

"You two look so pretty!" Eight said with starry eyes.

"Don't we?" Pearl smirked. She wrapped an arm around her girlfriend. An added benefit of the formal dress code: she got to see Marina in a long, black dress with a slit in the side and  _ holy shit _ she was hot.

"Yeah, we kind of had to find some fancy clothes last-minute. Sorry about that," Three said, taking off her scarf and jacket and revealing… oh. Wow. Three was wearing a black formal shirt with a white tie and a white suit jacket and pants and that was a fucking  _ look _ .

And then Eight got her winter gear off and showed off her low-cut red-and-pink floral dress. She looked  _ so cute _ . Three was a lucky girl.

"Wow. Holy- that's what last-minute looks like?!" Pearl said. "Remind me to buy my clothes seconds before I need them in the future."

"... Don't make fun…" Three said, rubbing her own arm.

"She isn't. You two look breathtaking," Marina said.

"Thank you, Marina..." Eight said, sounding quite shy about it.

And then there was another ring at the doorbell.

"And here come the rest, I think," Marina said. "Pearlie, can you check on the oven? I'll let them in."

"On it!" Pearl said, rushing into the kitchen.

Marina made her way to the door and cheerfully pulled it open. "Welcome!"

"Hey, Marina," Marie said. She, like the other three with her, was covered in winter clothing and a light dusting of snow.

"Wonderful weather we're having, huh?" Callie said, grinning.

"Yeah, come in! You'll catch a cold!" Marina said, stepping out of the way.

"I have to thank you for your hospitality, Agent," Cuttlefish said as the group made their way inside.

"Please, there's no need for the 'Agent' talk. This is a friendly get-together, so we can leave all of the professionalism at the door," Marina said.

"Ooo, does that mean we're not gonna use codenames? Because I've been dying to know Three and Eight's real names," Four said as she struggled to remove her coat.

"Um, hi, we're standing right here," Three said. "Also, my name's Three."

"No, but, like, your  _ real _ name," Four said.

"No, she's serious," Marie said. "She legally changed her name to Three."

"You… really?" Four said before finally managing to get her zipper to work.

"Yeah. Really. I wanted to leave my old life behind me," Three said. "Y'know, since it wasn't that great before I joined the NSS."

"Ah… well….. sorry," Four said, bowing her head.

"Don't worry about it," Three said, waving a hand dismissively. "And Eight still doesn't know what her name was. Unless something's changed…?"

"No, you are correct. But I am quite happy with 'Eight'," the octoling in question said.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE GET INTO YOUR FUCKING SEATS! THIS FOOD'S HOT AND IT'S BURNING MY HANDS!" Pearl shouted from the kitchen.

"Hang on, we're still getting ready!" Marie responded in kind as she got her earmuffs off. With all of their winter gear doffed, the four newcomers now stood in the front room in their formal attire: Four wore a skirt, Cuttlefish a suit, and the Squid Sisters both wore dresses matching their ink colors. Everyone in the room took a seat at the large dining room table save for Marina, who went to the kitchen to assist with carrying food.

"Ooo, I'm excited! Aren't you, Four?" Callie said.

Four flinched at the attention from the Squid Sister, which Pearl found… interesting as she was laying some dishes on the table. Even stranger was the fact that Callie seemed proud for eliciting the reaction.

Four recovered relatively quickly, though. "U-uh, yeah! Real excited. Super excited right now. Filled with excitement."

* * *

"Hey, does anybody have an older picture of Three?" Pearl asked suddenly as they were all eating. "I wanna check something."

"What? Why?" Three said, her eye narrowing in suspicion.

"Um, would a few months ago count as 'older'?" Marie asked, taking her phone out of some hidden pocket in her dress where she had stashed it.

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine," Pearl said, making grabby-hands for the phone.

Marie pulled up a picture and reached to hand the device to the shorter inkling. "It's from a meetup we had before all this crazy stuff happened."

"Mhm," Pearl said. She looked up at Three, then down at the picture, over and over again, with a slowly growing smirk.

"I don't like this, I'm uncomfortable," Three said, nervously fiddling with the sleeves of her white suit.

"Yup, just what I thought," Pearl said finally.

"What?!" Three said.

"Your tentacles have been turning a little more reddish," Pearl said. "And Eight's are turning a little greener."

"What? Shut the fuck up," Three said, not quite able to meet Pearl's gaze.

"Hang on, let me see!" Callie said, craning her neck to look at the phone. She looked back up at the inkling in question, and then she started laughing. "Oh my god, you're so right!"

Eight looked concerned. "What does that mean? Are we infected with something?"

"No, no, you're both fine," Marie said. "It just means-"

"You two've been smoochin'!" Callie burst out.

"Mwa mwa mwa~" Pearl said with an exaggerated kissy face.

"Pearlie, come on now," Marina said.

"Shut up…" Three said, rolling her eye while simultaneously blushing profusely.

Callie took that as a challenge. "Three and Eight, sittin' in a tree-"

"Ahem," Cuttlefish cleared his throat and everyone quieted down. "I'd appreciate it if we kept this discussion at least a little professional." Then he smirked. "Even  _ if _ Three has been smooching Eight. A lot."

Three held a fist towards the captain and slowly raised her middle finger in his direction.

"So, Marie…" Callie said, "how come your tentacles haven't changed color at all? You getting a lack of attention in that department?"

Marie's head snapped toward her cousin, looking genuinely offended. " _ Callie _ !"

The other Squid Sister shrugged nonchalantly, not looking very sorry about her statement. Meanwhile, Four felt like she was punched in the gut by guilt and… confusion. Was it a good thing that she hadn't kissed Marie much? Was it a bad thing? It seemed like anything was going to be a bad thing in Callie's eyes… Four was glad that her colleagues didn't have their attention on her at the moment.

"... Oookay, anyways," Three cut in, thankfully cutting the tension, "Pearl, Marina, how's unemployed life? Everything going okay?"

"Well, we're not  _ exactly _ unemployed," Marina said. "We still have the NSS. That's enough for us right now."

"But you're still doing music, right?!" Four burst out. " _ Please _ tell me you're still doing music!"

"Oh right, sorry, I forgot that you're a fan," Marina said, a small, prideful smile gracing her lips. "We are working on some projects in that department, yes."

"Ya' know, spittin' fire, droppin' beats, our normal stuff," Pearl said.

"Yesssss!" Four said with starry eyes.

"You should jam with us some time, Four!" Pearl said.

"That's a great idea, Pearl!" Marie said, bumping Four's elbow. "Come on, you know you want to sing with them."

"W-with Off the Hook?" Four said. "N-no, I couldn't…"

"Well I won't take no for an answer," Marina said with a grin.

"... Okay," Four said, and Marie rubbed her back in a congratulatory fashion.

"I'm really happy right now," Eight said all of a sudden. "After all we've been through, we are all still here, and together."

"Well, mostly together," Three said, tapping her eyepatch.

"Okay, don't be an ass, Three," Pearl said. "Eight's right. I'm glad we're all able to be together like this. We had some close shaves, but we made it out, and now we're eating some  _ delicious _ food among some entertaining company."

"Even if the world isn't so keen on accepting everyone here, I am personally honored to know each and every one of you. Genuinely," Cuttlefish said. "I never expected to have more than a few members in the New Squidbeak Splatoon, but I can say with confidence that this is the best our little group has ever been."

"Yeah, you guys are pretty cool. Especially you, Eight," Three said, winking at her girlfriend. "Even though it took some terrible stuff to get here, and, y'know, I lost an  _ eye _ , I think we ended up in a pretty good situation at the end."

"Wow, wasn't expecting everyone to get so mushy here," Callie said.

"Come on, Callie! I just poured my heart out there!" Three protested.

Callie was silent for a moment, seemingly pondering her next statement. "... I… I'm not proud of what happened… what I did."

"Cal, it wasn't your fault," Marie said.

"I… still should have resisted it. Stopped it," Callie said.

"Yo, none of us blame you," Pearl said.

"Please just shut up and let me talk," Callie snapped, causing any objections to go silent. "I'm still scared of people seeing my face in public. It's just hard for me. I feel like I've failed Inkopolis with what I did. And… I still feel that  _ need _ . The need to put those shades back on and wreak havok. That… scares me." She took a deep, tremulous breath. "But… around you people it's not too bad. I feel safe around all of you, so thanks for that."

"Aww, no problem, Callie," Marie said, leaning sideways and hugging her cousin.

"We are here for you, whenever you need us to be," Cuttlefish said. "And you don't need to worry about those shades. We couldn't destroy them, but we did find a place where we'll never have to worry about them again."

Callie gave a bittersweet laugh and a tear rolled down her cheek. "... Part of me is so happy to hear that, but another part of me wants to put those back on so badly. What's wrong with me…?"

"Hey, nothing's wrong with you," Three said. "You got screwed over, and you're doing your best to deal with that. And you know what? You can join the new club I'm making. It's called the 'I've been brainwashed' club. Eight and Marina are also invited."

That got a chuckle out of the black-tentacled Squid Sister. "Thanks, Three."

Three gave a thumbs-up and a grin in response.

"Hey, why don't we all get together for a picture? You know, document the moment?" Four said. "Plus we all look so snazzy. It would be a waste not to capture this."

"Good idea! Eight, why don't you take the selfie?" Three proposed.

"Um, okay!" Eight said, getting out her phone and standing up.

The rest of the cephalopods left their seats and filed in behind Eight at varying paces. After a little time spent trying to find a way to get everyone in frame, Eight snapped the picture.

"Nice! That came out awesome! Send that one to me, okay?" Four said, to which Eight nodded.

Marina looked at the picture over Eight's shoulder. "What a group we make, huh?"

Marie smiled softly, grabbing Four's hand and squeezing it. "What a group, indeed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyy! Happy times! Everybody's fancy and smiling! Finally!
> 
> This feels pretty conclusive, right? Well, that's because this is the second-to-last chapter of this fic. Then a new one will come, and more pain can occur!
> 
> I'm going to start reading the Merry Ficmas fics in the next few days, so make sure to get those finished if you want me to read them. Because I definitely want to!
> 
> Please comment, and may smiles grace you for the rest of the day!


	9. Finale

"One last trip to the doctor!" Three said as she and her octoling girlfriend walked the streets to the doctor's office.

"Yes, then we will be officially recovered," Eight said. She found Three's enthusiasm quite infectious. The inkling had been forbidden by the Captain to engage in any patrols or intensive activities until she had made a full recovery (except for that one mission to Kamabo, which he certainly would not have allowed had he known about it). This appointment would be their last, and Three would be allowed to do her job again.

The two marched into the office and waited a short time before they were taken in. Eight was first, and nothing particularly of note was discussed. She needed to be careful with her lower back and make sure to tell any other doctors she had about it, and she needed to continue eating three meals a day to help with her malnutrition from Kamabo. All things that Eight was expecting to hear. She went back to the waiting room, and Three was sent in for her checkup.

Eight swung her legs a bit in the uncomfortable seat she was in. Three's appointment was taking a little longer than expected. Was everything alright?

Eight shook her head. Three was in good hands. This doctor was one of the rare people in Inkopolis that was kind to Eight. And he seemed very practiced in his profession. Three would be fine.

The octoling started drawing little invisible shapes in the air with her finger, just to pass the time. That one was a cat, and then she made a helicopter, like what Off the Hook used. Then she drew herself, and next was Three. She made the two phantom cephalopods hold hands. Her hearts fluttered a bit from doing so, and it felt so pleasant to just be in love in that moment.

Then Three came back into the waiting room and a sinking feeling settled in Eight's stomach. The inkling looked… mortified.

Three slowly and distantly made her way to a chair and sank into it. She seemed like she was barely aware of her surroundings.

"Three…?" Eight questioned.

"I… I'd like to go home," the inkling said. "Can we go home?"

"Is everything okay?" Eight said, growing increasingly concerned.

"I… I want to go home, Eight," was Three's only response.

Eight wasn't going to get anything out of the distressed inkling right now, so she nodded. Hopefully when they were home, Three would be ready to talk.

The two left their seats and headed out of the building.

* * *

Three had been silent and pensive-looking for a while now. Eight got up from the couch they were sharing and headed to the kitchen. She started making some hot chocolate (something Three had taught her how to do).

Once it was done, Eight went back to the couch and handed Three the mug. The octoling made sure her girlfriend had a firm grip on the mug before she let go of it, lest it go crashing to the ground and ruin Three's flooring.

Finally, the green-tentacled inkling spoke.

"... Thank you. I'm sorry, I've just… got a lot to think about," she said.

"That's alright. Take as long as you need," Eight said.

"No, I've taken long enough," Three said. "I… I'm ready to talk."

"Oh, okay," Eight said. "First of all, are you okay?"

"Yes… with an asterisk," Three said. "I'm healthy and everything. Tip-top shape. Well maybe not tip-top. I  _ am  _ still missing an eye, but… I don't have any medical complications."

"Oh, that's a relief to hear," Eight said. "For a moment, I thought that you might be dying."

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you," Three said. "The thing that's bothering me so much…" She took a sip of her hot chocolate. "They, uh… they took some DNA samples of you when you first came up to the surface. Do you remember that?"

"I've heard about it. I don't think I was very conscious at the time, however," Eight said.

"Right, yeah, you were stabbed. By me. I stabbed you," Three said. "Anyways, the doctors found some… let's say 'oddities' in my genetic code, and they started looking for what that might be. And eventually they compared my DNA to yours." Three set the mug down and then leaned back on the couch, closing her eyes. "Eight… I'm half octoling."

It took several moments for this information to register for Eight, but her eyes widened when it did. "You're…?" She shook herself. This didn't feel real. It was a dream, right? "But… how?"

"I… don't know. Apparently I didn't get many visible octoling traits. But the docs have been testing it for a while… they're pretty certain about it," Three said. "It… actually explains a lot about my childhood, why my parents hated me… one of them probably had a fling with an octoling and nine months later I was dumped at their doorstep. They never wanted me in the first place, and so they… well, they treated me badly." She leaned forward and cradled her head in her hands. "God, this explains too much..."

Eight leaned in and held the inkling- or part octoling, as it happened. "I'm so sorry. This must be a lot for you."

"Yeah. Just a little bit overwhelmed," Three said.

"I'm sorry, I don't really know what to do in order to help…"

"Just… keep being you and being wonderful," Three said, wrapping her arms around the octoling's neck.

"Only if you'll do the same," Eight responded, nuzzling her girlfriend's neck. Then she moved back a little so that her nose was millimeters away from the other cephalopod's. "Three, you know that this doesn't change you, right? You are still the same strong, kind, amazing person that I fell in love with."

Three closed the distance and gave Eight a quick peck on the lips. "Thank you. You always know what to say."

"To be honest, I don't. I don't really know what this means. I didn't even know this was possible!"

"Neither did I," Three said. "Maybe our races are closer than people think."

"This… this could be big," Eight said.

"Maybe…" Three said. "But right now I don't want it to be. For now, can we just think of it as a 'me' problem? Is that selfish?"

Eight chuckled. "No. I think you should have every right to think of it that way." The octoling pulled her girlfriend into another embrace, smiling over her shoulder.

Three, her face not visible to Eight, was not smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! This will be the story that the next fic will run off of. Three's discovery of her origins, and Eight helping her through it. There will be intrigue, enlightenment, pain... yeah, probably a lot of that last one.
> 
> I'd like to thank you all for your continued support. I know you aren't giving me money, but you're giving me something even greater- hope. Hope, motivation, and happiness. Your comments give me true bliss. Your kudos keep me smiling. But most importantly, you've kept reading, some of you even coming from a whole different series I've written. I couldn't be happier with all of you wonderful people in this little fanbase.
> 
> I hope you will keep your eye out for the next installment. I believe it is possible to subscribe to the series itself so that you'll be notified when the next chapter in the lives of these tortured souls comes around. I can't give you an exact timetable of when it'll come around, but it shouldn't be too long!
> 
> Anyways, be ready for One After Another, Volume II™! (Name not final)
> 
> (Oh... uh... this is the part where I tell you to comment and stuff.)


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